Thin catalytic coatings on microreactor walls A way to make industrial processes more efficient

Current trends in the development of microstructured reactors with thin catalytic films (from 100 nm up to several microns) that have self-assembled nanostructures are discussed. A major technique that is used to prepare such films is sol-gel processing. This involves depositing a complex fluid on a microstructured substrate by dip, spin, or spray coating, followed by surfactant removal to form the porous nanostructures. A novel methodology has been developed by which a uniform coating containing controlled amounts of (poly) metallic nanoparticles can be obtained. This elegant strategy is based on the condensation of metal oxide species by self-assembly in the presence of metallic colloids. The potential microreactor applications brought forth by this innovative protocol are placed in perspective in the light of its versatility.

Local DNA damage by proton microbeam irradiation induces poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis in mammalian cells

Cellular recovery from ionizing radiation (IR)-induced damage involves poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1 and PARP-2) activity, resulting in the induction of a signalling network responsible for the maintenance of genomic integrity. In the present work, a charged particle microbeam delivering 3.2 MeV protons from a Van de Graaff accelerator has been used to locally irradiate mammalian cells. We show the immediate response of PARPs to local irradiation, concomitant with the recruitment of ATM and Rad51 at sites of DNA damage, both proteins being involved in DNA strand break repair. We found a co-localization but no connection between two DNA damage-dependent post-translational modifications, namely poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of nuclear proteins and phosphorylation of histone H2AX. Both of them, however, should be considered and used as bona fide immediate sensitive markers of IR damage in living cells. This technique thus provides a powerful approach aimed at understanding the interactions between the signals originating from sites of DNA damage and the subsequent activation of DNA strand break repair mechanisms.

A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and heritable eating disorder characterized by dangerously low body weight. Neither candidate gene studies nor an initial genome-wide association study (GWAS) have yielded significant and replicated results. We performed a GWAS in 2907 cases with AN from 14 countries (15 sites) and 14 860 ancestrally matched controls as part of the Genetic Consortium for AN (GCAN) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 3 (WTCCC3). Individual association analyses were conducted in each stratum and meta-analyzed across all 15 discovery data sets. Seventy-six (72 independent) single nucleotide polymorphisms were taken forward for in silico (two data sets) or de novo (13 data sets) replication genotyping in 2677 independent AN cases and 8629 European ancestry controls along with 458 AN cases and 421 controls from Japan. The final global meta-analysis across discovery and replication data sets comprised 5551 AN cases and 21 080 controls. AN subtype analyses (1606 AN restricting; 1445 AN binge-purge) were performed. No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two intronic variants were suggestively associated: rs9839776 (P=3.01 × 10(-7)) in SOX2OT and rs17030795 (P=5.84 × 10(-6)) in PPP3CA. Two additional signals were specific to Europeans: rs1523921 (P=5.76 × 10(-)(6)) between CUL3 and FAM124B and rs1886797 (P=8.05 × 10(-)(6)) near SPATA13. Comparing discovery with replication results, 76% of the effects were in the same direction, an observation highly unlikely to be due to chance (P=4 × 10(^-6)), strongly suggesting that true findings exist but our sample, the largest yet reported, was underpowered for their detection. The accrual of large genotyped AN case-control samples should be an immediate priority for the field.

Geographical variation in inorganic arsenic in paddy field samples and commercial rice from the Iberian Peninsula

This study investigated total arsenic and arsenic speciation in rice using ion chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (IC-ICP-MS), covering the main rice-growing regions of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The main arsenic species found were inorganic and dimethylarsinic acid. Samples surveyed were soil, shoots and field-collected rice grain. From this information soil to plant arsenic transfer was investigated plus the distribution of arsenic in rice across the geographical regions of Spain and Portugal. Commercial polished rice was also obtained from each region and tested for arsenic speciation, showing a positive correlation with field-obtained rice grain. Commercial polished rice had the lowest i-As content in Andalucia, Murcia and Valencia while Extremadura had the highest concentrations. About 26% of commercial rice samples exceeded the permissible concentration
for infant food production as governed by the European Commission. Some cadmium data is also presented, available with ICP-MS analyses, and show low concentration in rice samples.

El proceso de transición del familiar, a cuidador de la persona con depresión

El proceso de transición del familiar, a cuidador de la persona con depresión Método: diseño de la investigación es de naturaleza cualitativa y inductiva, usando la Teoría Fundamentada. Investigación tuvo lugar en 2 polos de las consultas externas del Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Hospital de Évora, Portugal, en 2 ciudades diferentes, durante Febrero y Julio, 2009. La selección de participantes se hizo mediante la muestra no probabilística intencional de acuerdo con los criterios: adulto y/o anciano con un diagnóstico clínico de reacción depresiva breve o prolongada (CIE-9); vivir con familiares; capacidad cognitiva para permitir la recogida de datos; participación voluntaria del paciente y su familia. Se realizaron entrevistas narrativas semiestructuradas a 8 familias, correspondientes a 20 participantes. Resultados: la codificación axial nos permitió identificar 2 categorías: 1ª- narrativa de la enfermedad (inicio, causas, manifestaciones y la caracterización de la depresión). El inicio es identificado por la familia y el paciente, mientras que las causas se identifican sólo por el paciente. Para el familiar la depresión se manifiesta por comportamientos agresivos, aislamiento, desinversión y pasividad; para el paciente, se manifiesta por señales somáticas, pérdida de la voluntad, tristeza, miedo y aislamiento. Para el familiar es una cosa mala porque destruye las relaciones familiares y manipuladora porque es una manera de conseguir lo que el paciente quiere; para el paciente es una cosa de la cabeza, que no se ve, es inconstante y cambia a la persona. 2ª- estrategias de cuidado (escape, indiferencia, conflicto, chantaje).Como manera de cuidar, el familiar está menos tiempo en el hogar para evitar conflictos, aumenta el consumo de alcohol como vía de escape, ignora la conducta del paciente para no molestarlo, como una forma de estimular exige que el paciente haga actividades, y niega actividades sociales si el paciente no lo acompaña, para que él se aísle menos. A veces responsabiliza al paciente por la inestabilidad de la familia, intentando así ayudarle a ser consciente de su comportamiento. No participa en las consultas médicas para que el paciente se sienta más cómodo y rara vez participa en las tareas del hogar, también para que el paciente haga alguna actividad. Discusión: de alguna manera los familiares cambian, para atender a las necesidades del paciente y el papel de cuidador se construye cada día en la interacción entre las personas que cohabitan, de modo que el cuidado tendrá características particulares. Todo lo que el familiar hace, tiene la intención de ayudar al paciente a mejorar y superar su depresión a través de un modo diferente de cuidado. Algunas veces hay un sentimiento de culpa, como consecuencia no de haber cometido una mala acción, sino por haber tenido un comportamiento más duro con el paciente y no saber se eso es lo correcto. Así, es muy importante la intervención de enfermería para que los cuidadores reciban orientaciones y apoyo y la transición se haga armoniosamente.

¿La edad de la política? Balanche Historiográfico de los estudios sobre comunicación e información política en la sociedad ibérica moderna

Los estudios sobre política y su impacto y circulación entre la sociedad moderna, han solido limitar su expansión a un número reducido de personas del entorno más próximo a los grandes actores cortesanos frente a la tradicional “indiferencia” del común. Sin embargo, gracias a la renovación de la historiografía de lo político y a su interés por áreas culturales y sociales ajenas a su tradicional consideración, en las últimas décadas se ha descubierto un interesante terreno de experiencias políticas que nos puede servir como atalaya para conocer la difusión de la información sobre los hechos políticos también entre “gente corriente”. A nuestro juicio, es un momento adecuado para evaluar el desarrollo de un fenómeno historiográfico carente de cierta sistematicidad, razón por la que planteamos este balance crítico y analítico sobre la sociedad ibérica del Antiguo Régimen.

Mirror extreme BMI phenotypes associated with gene dosage at the chromosome 16p11.2 locus.

Both obesity and being underweight have been associated with increased mortality. Underweight, defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≤ 18.5 kg per m(2) in adults and ≤ -2 standard deviations from the mean in children, is the main sign of a series of heterogeneous clinical conditions including failure to thrive, feeding and eating disorder and/or anorexia nervosa. In contrast to obesity, few genetic variants underlying these clinical conditions have been reported. We previously showed that hemizygosity of a ∼600-kilobase (kb) region on the short arm of chromosome 16 causes a highly penetrant form of obesity that is often associated with hyperphagia and intellectual disabilities. Here we show that the corresponding reciprocal duplication is associated with being underweight. We identified 138 duplication carriers (including 132 novel cases and 108 unrelated carriers) from individuals clinically referred for developmental or intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) or psychiatric disorders, or recruited from population-based cohorts. These carriers show significantly reduced postnatal weight and BMI. Half of the boys younger than five years are underweight with a probable diagnosis of failure to thrive, whereas adult duplication carriers have an 8.3-fold increased risk of being clinically underweight. We observe a trend towards increased severity in males, as well as a depletion of male carriers among non-medically ascertained cases. These features are associated with an unusually high frequency of selective and restrictive eating behaviours and a significant reduction in head circumference. Each of the observed phenotypes is the converse of one reported in carriers of deletions at this locus. The phenotypes correlate with changes in transcript levels for genes mapping within the duplication but not in flanking regions. The reciprocal impact of these 16p11.2 copy-number variants indicates that severe obesity and being underweight could have mirror aetiologies, possibly through contrasting effects on energy balance.

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Bogotá Emprende

Régime de change, développement du commerce et du bien-être : une analyse économétrique.

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Le choix d'un régime de taux de change possède-t-il un impact sur le niveau des échanges commerciaux?

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